Flash Essay: To Roast or Not To Roast in LA

The heat has been bad here in LA. It is the topic of almost every conversation and people are flocking to the movies and to the beaches to escape. The rest of us sit in our homes, which for the most part are without air-conditioning, and sweat. It ain’t pretty.

I am from Texas, a state with hot summers and higher temperatures than LA. However, in Texas, people are prepared for heat waves. They go from their air-conditioned houses to their air-conditioned cars to their air-conditioned malls. In LA, we are not accustomed to anything beyond a solid 75, and that lack of preparedness shows this time of year. In our home, we have one air conditioner up in a bedroom. It is now our guest bedroom so we don’t even sleep in that room anymore. We have the air conditioner on so we can watch television in there for a couple of hours at night. The rest of the time, we’re in the other part of the house, which is oven-like even with windows and doors open. And we sweat some more.

The weather is due to get a bit cooler next week. This is just when we’ll be heading to Texas for 100 + temperatures. There, at least, we have central air. We will work a lot outside, however, so that lovely cool air will bring relief only part of the time.

So, go get the ice water and a cool wet washcloth. You’re going to need it if you visit me. Except you are in luck, we’ll keep the air conditioner on for you in the guest room. As for us, we’ll be sleeping in front of two fans in our bedroom.